Mara Arizaga, PhD, is Head of the Well-Being Unit at the United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR), where she has served for over a decade in roles spanning human rights, programme leadership, fellowship initiatives, and staff well-being. Her work has included engagement on racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, Indigenous and Afrodescendant fellowship initiatives, Indigenous peoples’ rights, and broader questions of well-being and mental health across diverse cultural and institutional contexts.
At OHCHR, she leads United & Present, an emerging initiative exploring how contemplative practice, inner capacities, and evidence-informed approaches may contribute to human rights work, multilateral cooperation, and more human-centred institutional cultures. Since 2021, she has designed and facilitated mindfulness, resilience, and stress management programmes within the Office, helping bring context-sensitive and trauma-aware approaches into high-pressure international settings.
Prior to joining the United Nations, Mara worked in civil society and represented NGOs to the UN, leading international programmes and partnerships. She holds a PhD from the University of Bern and the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. Her research focuses on contemplative traditions, cultural transmission, and global modernity. She is the author of When Meditation Goes Global and has published academic work in related fields.
She is also a certified mindfulness teacher and leadership coach, whose work lies at the intersection of contemplative practice, human rights, institutional transformation, and collective well-being.
